extended coverage of the debt debate in washington. congress scrambling this afternoon, searching for legislation that could make it to the president's desk and avert the first default in history. the house of representatives, republicans there, are expected to vote down a version of harry reid's debt ceiling plan, symbolically. throughout the morning, elected leaders have been venting over where we stand today. >> it's time for leaders to lead. to come to the table and be reasonable. >> this president and this senate is not serious about cutting at all. they want a blank check, they want to get through the 2012 k elections and we'll talk about the debt another day. >> this is a political problem of people wanting to have it their own way. you can't govern this country this way. >> msnbc's luke russert has been

following the tale of two bills. we're watching what's happening in the house. this vote, has this been done before? >> yes, in the history of the house they do things like that. it's supposed to say to harry reid, look, even before you pass any semblance of your bill out of the united states senate, we're going to show you that it's dead on arrival. it's going to be interesting to see then what exactly harry reid can send over to the house by the end of the weekend, possibly on monday. it's supposed to be a compromise on his current bill. the strategy we hear so far is that mitch mcconnell has said he will only negotiate with harry reid if president obama were to be involved. you expect he will lighten up a little bit on that strategy, that's what we heard.

i spoke to one gop aide and they said look, essentially congress is "motionless until harry reid can tell republicans what exactly the president will sign." kind of putting the burden on president obama, putting the burden on harry reid saying look, republican senators support the boehner bill, which passed last night, albeit the senate killed it. the real problem now is the clock. while the senate is -- it's unclear what they're going to do. whatever compromise they pass, there's a 1:00 a.m. vote tonight of which harry reid will need to get to 60 to push forward a debt limit extension. that time limit could be extended until tomorrow possibly. but any type of compromise right now, despite the procedure of the united states senate, would most likely get to the united states house on tuesday. we saw how difficult it was for speaker boehner to get a republican bill out of his house.

it took him three times. so any compromise bill that comes out of the senate will most likely lose a ton of republicans in the house and will be all democrats and a handful of republicans to get across the finish line in a very late hour. that is something that has a lot of financial markets worried and a lot of people here in washington worried that it might just not be able to be completed in such a short time window. >> luke russert, busy bunch of hours ahead of us. appreciate it so much. take care. the debt debate in washington is having ripple effects across the globe, including fears from men and women in our armed forces over their paychecks. admiral mike mullen discussed the issue with our troops. you know, mike mullen, this is what he said, "i don't know the answer to the question of whether or not they will continue to get paid." the soldiers that is. he want on to say, i have

confidence whatever compensation you are owed you will be given. put in a difficult place here. >> reporter: a very difficult place, the chairman of the joint chief of staff made his way to afghanistan, this is his 15th trip to afghanistan. and probably one of the last ones. i'm pretty sure this is one of the last questions that he expected, but apparently it was the biggest question that he received among the sailors, the soldiers, the airmen and the marines. he was quite honest with them when he said he didn't know what this meant for their paycheck. these are men and women in afghanistan, here months at a time, sometimes years at a time away from their families, expecting a paycheck, expecting a paycheck for fighting for their country. on top of worrying about ieds and rpgs, now they have to worry about whether they will be paid

and their families will be provided for. >> since we're talking about this and luke was talking about what's happening on the hill, are there a lot of questions coming from those serving in the military, contractors that are in afghanistan, war theaters abroad, what have you heard in terms of what's happening here in washington? >> reporter: what most americans here that aren't in the armed forces, at least they're probably getting their salaries from a private organization. when you look at the men and women in uniform, they get their paycheck, it gets delivered by the u.s. treasury. so it is on their mind right now. the reaction that was seen today in the south of admiral mike mullen, it proves what they're thinking about. mullen cracked a joke. he said that, you know, he doesn't have the answers, but if they want those answers, write to their representatives. they received a chuckle from the crowd, because all of them knew

how ridiculous that sounded, because they're here in a war zone, and they're expecting their government, their country to take care of them while they're trying to protect the united states of america. >> headlines being watched around the world right there in kabul, as well. let's turn back to the battle in washington with richard wolf, msnbc political analyst and the author of "renegade, the making of a president." good afternoon to you. as we watch if house and senate work out what they need to today, how do you think the white house has played this over the last week? >> the white house has consciously stepped back out of the limelight here, because they needed to figure out what the endgame would look like. frankly we still don't know and there are so many variables that it's hard for them to game it out. what we're looking at here is two sort of things in motion. one is the legislative process. so what will emerge in this reasonable time frame in the

next couple of days, especially on the senate side, what can mcconnell and reid do to get something that's acceptable to people in both parties. remember the house's problem has been they've been trying to get things done just with republican votes. what kind of bipartisan compromise comes out of that? the second thing is if the deadline is breached and we're into this position of the president making tough choices, what doesn't get paid? is it social security checks, government departments, what does that look like? very complex. that's why all of this stuff is happening. it's not because the republicans say the president hasn't spelled things out, it's because there are so many variables that could be affected here. if the president says something, you may lose or gain 20 votes. >> richard, we saw one phase of these negotiations having a rash of meetings with the president. now we have leader mcconnell in

the senate asking for the president to sit down before he'll sit down with leader reid. what should the president do here? >> well, there are back channel communications going on all the time. the idea that you need a photo-op with the president and mcconnell and reid to get something moving isn't practical. it's a good talking point. republicans have found a rallying cry around the idea that the president hasn'tment presented a plan. they want to see something on paper apparently. that's not how this is going to get driven. it's about rounding up the votes on both sides and getting something to the house where speaker boehner is going to have to say either we get nothing done, just with republican votes. or we get something done, but the strategy changes. i need to get votes from democrats, as well. that's a strategic decision that speaker boehner has to make. it's irrelevant whether the president is photographed with the senate leaders or not. >> reverend jesse jackson has

said the president has not been strong enough in this process. has the president been strong enough? what's the word in washington? >> well, there are various criticisms of the president that he pushed ahead with a debt reduction panel earlier in his presidency and then didn't back those findings. but remember, a number of members of congress didn't back that commission either. and that's what is going to be the final solution to all of this. so in a year or so, maybe two years, a president, maybe this president, is going to have to back the recommendations oh of the panel, members of congress will have an up or down vote on it. that's the kind of leadership that matters. this is early in this debt debate. >> it seems like it's late, richard, great discussion. thank you. we're less than an hour away from a senate session on the

debt crisis. we're joined by senator frank laudenberg. thank you for your time today, as i know you don't have a lot of it. very good day to you. the key thing we've been talking about, at least with richard wolffe, are the votes there to pass leader reid's proposal? what do you see? >> well, depending on the structure of the vote, we the democrats have been trying to get this simple majority, and i don't know whether that's possible. we are counting on some of the republicans who see the danger of the position they're taking. they know that this is kind of the ultimate warfare politically. and their mission is political, it has less to do with the fiscal balance that we require now. >> as you look at senator scott brown, senator makowski, the

republicans basically that leader reid will need to go along, do you think they will go along in the deal's current form? >> well, i think so. i can't verify that the two people you named are the only ones or the principal ones that are going to come around. i think there's a good amount of perspiration taking place, because if this is a mistake, god willing that we'll survive a catastrophe. that's where we are now. people don't understand that. this is like waiting for the executioner and hoping we've got a reprieve. it's ridiculous for us to be in this position. >> and it's perspiration being felt on main street and everywhere. as you look at the deal and as leader reid looks at bringing across some support from the senators we were discussing, what are you willing to compromise on to get a senate bill passed? >> i think we're already at the

maximum level of compromise, and i think that was tested seriously in the senate vote last night. and so we -- listen, we have to remember that this isn't just a game of monopoly. the fact is that this is game of life and that the penalty for being wrong here is terrible. could you imagine that we don't pay our soldiers? would you imagine that people who are on social security are waiting desperately for their check each month, and prices have gone up, and this would be a terrible plague to put on the american public. i for one think we've gone as far as we ought to, and i think -- and i believe that harry reid will hold the line. >> senator, let's try to be practical here.

what bill do you think that passes in the senate will also get passed in the house, in what form? >> at this point there is a fallback, and that's the 14th amendment. i think the people on the house side will think differently about it if they see that they can't get it through, and they don't want to be left hanging out there. so it's too easy to calculate when we don't have enough knowledge or experience in this disastrous situation. >> my best to you, senator. thank you. >> thank you very much. president obama says failure to come to an agreement would be "inexcusable." are republicans digging in their heels to make the president look bad? we'll take a look at that. cay. ooo. sounds pricey? nah, with the hotels.com summer sale, you can find awesome deals for places nearby. interesting...

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disturbing new details about the attacks in norway that left 77 people dead. the man who confessed to the bombing and shooting considered other locations to attack. police also say that anders breivik asked how many people he killed. a caribbean airlines plane crashed earlier today in guyana. this occurred at the country's main airport. the plain overshot the runway and broke in two. remarkably, no one was killed. there are several injuries, not clear yet at the moment how many or how severe. the plane left new york and stopped in trinidad. democrats in the house are wondering how much of the motivation in this debt ceiling drama is political for the other side of the aisle.

>> 1980, we've had 39 increases in the debt limit. the fact is there was never this kind of mess. this is all manufactured for the purposes of making president obama look bad. >> let's talk more about the current stalemate with felicia, blogger for "the washington post." very good day to you. you're in a exciting place there on the hill. is this political posturing? what would the gop have to gain if they have their current bill, at least the house bill, if it were to become law in this phased approach that they would like to have happen here? >> well, it appears that that house bill that was put forth by the house speaker john boehner this week is all but dead. the senate voted it down last night on a bipartisan vote. and interestingly, that vote included six republicans who voted against it along with the senate democrats because they believed it was not conservative enough for them in the upper chamber. so all eyes are on senate

majority leader harry reid and mitch mcconnell. they were in negotiations yesterday. >> but felicia, if it did go through in phases, where you would have to have the discussion again of raising the debt ceiling again, if the republicans would like that, do they stand to gain by bringing up that discussion as we move into the 2012 election period? >> that's the main question, whether you have a short term debt ceiling raise or a long-term one. the short term one would allow republicans to revisit this next year, and the plus point for them on that side of things is it allows them to continue their message of pushing forward for a balanced budget amendment and allows them to continue their focus on reducing the deficit, which has been a main focal point since last year's election. on the other side for democrats, they're pushing for this beyond the election, you would they would like to move on in terms of messaging, their message of job creation. right now things are stalled

here in the senate. the majority leader harry reid said there were no significant negotiations going on with his counterpart, but everyone is watching now. the house is going to be voting down the reid version of this bill today. >> in about 40 minutes. so both sides are accusing the other of politicking here. all that americans want to know, is there some serious work getting done? are we still seeing posturing? >> there is going to be posturing until the last minute. but the question here now, one of the interesting things that's come up in the past 24 hours, people are talking more about the feasibility of this 14th amendment option, which would be the plan z in this whole argument of whether the president would have the constitutional authority to raise the debt limit on his own. there are many legal questions surrounding that. but one is whether or not this would be a good thing for the

white house. and with the congressional approval rating down in the teens right now, and the white house approval rating several times more than that -- >> but still close. >> it could appear if congress can't come to an agreement by tuesday, that could look like more of an appealing option for the white house. >> felicia, thank you. >> thank you very much. casey anthony might want to take any business offer to her. up next, who else is charging her for her child now? and the search for a new hampshire girl in its fifth day. crews are looking for any clues into the disappearance of the 11-year-old. ñññ

a live look on the house floor right now, outside the house floor. house members preparing to take up senate majority leader reid's plan. they will symbolically shoot his plan down. we'll have live coverage throughout the afternoon of that happening, as well. the tallies are in.

the casey anthony murder investigation and trial cost taxpayers nearly $700,000. the figure is based on estimates from agencies involved in the case and they want their money back. the hearing in late august, the judge will decide how much anthony will have to pay. the largest bill is from the sheriff's office. the grand total, $293,000. separately, equusearch is also looking to recoup about $100,000 from anthony, too. day five in the search for celina cass, the 11-year-old new hampshire girl was seen at home on the computer. authorities are knocked on hundreds of doors in the area and plan to keep on going. following up on the hundreds of tips that have poured in. michelle fransend has more from new hampshire for us. >> reporter: investigators are back out here again. they will be briefed and volunteers will be out searching the area for signs of celina

cass. she was last seen monday night at her home according to family at the computer and since tuesday, the investigation has been intensifying. more than 100 investigators from out of state are here. the fbi has their child abduction unit on site. there are no signs of struggle. no reason to believe that celina cass would run away. meanwhile, throughout this week, volunteers have been covering miles of ground, fanning out in search of celina cass. they have had to deal with heavy, tall brush, as well as wooded areas. they've got a lot of water to cover from ponds to rivers. and there is close proximity to not only vermont's border but also to canada. the canadian border is about a mile away here. and they have other issues and challenges to deal with.

there is spotty cell service in this area. we have experienced it ourselves. investigators admit that they have had some difficulty in their response time with each other when they have received a tip. they've had to go back to passing notes in the field and that's adding time to this investigation. but they are hopeful that they will get the tips they need to help locate celina. richard? >> michelle franzen, thank you. tropical storm don has made landfall just south of corpus christi, texas and it quickly fizzled out. the storm did bring some rain to the area, but not as much as expected. we look at the capitol and get ready for the house floor to take action just three days away from the debt default deadline. and members of congress still have not come up with an agreement. we'll have a live update from the white house. plus, analysis of what's been going on. just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defends against occasional constipation, diarrhea,

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new reaction today from president obama with the government on the cusp of hitting the debt ceiling. in his weekly address, the president called for both sides to compromise to avoid default. take a listen. >> the parties are not that far apart here. we're in rough agreement on how much spending we need to cut to reduce our deficit. there are plenty of ways out of this mess, but there's very little time. >> joining me now is msnbc's kristen welker and richard wolffe back with me again. kristen, what is on the president's agenda today? >> there, richard. no public events on his schedule today, but white house officials say he's quite busy monitoring the situation and in constant contact with lawmakers on the hill. they won't tell us who he's speaking to specifically, but say he's very much in contact with everyone. here's the latest.

as you know, leader boehner's plan was voted through the house last night, and then it was tabled in the senate. so now all of the focus is on harry reid, and his plan, which interestingly these two plans just aren't that different. under majority leader reid's plan, you would see the debt limit increase through 2013. under boehner's plan, you would see it increase for about six months. both include spending cuts. the big difference is the timing and boehner's plan comes with a balanced budget amendment. what we're expecting to see ultimately is a compromise bill here between these two plans, and that's what's being worked on behind the scenes right now. harry reid trying to find enough senate republicans to come over to his side and vote a compromise bill through. of course, there's votes going on this afternoon. the main one to watch out for is going to be sunday, 1:00 a.m., when we get a procedural test

vote to see if harry reid really does have enough support. he's asked mitch mcconnell to support him, as well. mitch mcconnell so far hasn't at least publicly offered his support. but behind the scenes we know that harry reid is trying to rangle support among republicans. >> one of those votes is happening there in the house. i want to play what was senate by the democrat of illinois. take a listen at this. >> our soldiers in afghanistan repeatedly asked admiral mullen yesterday, will we get paid? will our families get their checks? shame on the republicans for making that happen. in battle, when you accidently shoot your own, it's called friendly fire. when you deliberately shoot your own, it's called fragging. republicans, stop fragging the american economy and the american people. >> richard, the perception is, nobody is getting along or making progress here.

they're still fighting. >> first of all, that tells you how far the politics have come. that was the argument republicans and the bush white house used to make to get democrats to get in line on these kinds of votes on a whole range of subjects. now you have a democrat doing this. this also tells you how the debate will unfold if we get past monday night, tuesday morning without this vote coming through. there are extremely difficult decisions that the president is going to have to make that will only increase the pressure on house republicans to come to a compromise. for the time being, this is still a matter of posturing, until we get mitch mcconnell and harry reid, the democratic leader in the senate, to come up with a plan and then put that to the house, that is, you know, we're in this never world where this kind of rhetoric is going to bounce around.

>> as we are in the nether world, that's where we have you here, richard. tell us what's going to happen as we move closer to that deadline in three days. >> well, first of all, we've got to see where mitch mcconnell comes out on this. senator reid's plan is pretty much what mcconnell has been offering. this is something the white house likes. the red line inside the white house is there should not be a two-step process where we have this whole debate again in six months' time with a different bunch of demands and a different budge of hostages being taken. so mcconnell's plan is very elegant. it may sound confusing to people outside washington, but it allows members of congress to vote against raising the debt ceiling, even as they are in fact raising the debt ceiling. then the question is, does speaker boehner actually try and work with the democrats or is he going to stick to working with just his own party? that's the unanswered question. the question is whether speaker

boehner tries to forge a different path than the one he's taken so far. >> thank you both. we're less than half an hour away from the start of a senate session on the debt crisis. i'm joined now by senator robert casey. thank you for your time, senator. will leader reid's bill pass in 12 hours, 1:00 a.m. is the time you're going to have to be there? >> we don't know yet, but one thing i'm certain of is there is a lot of discussion within the senate, virtually every democrat i know, including my own experience, has been that there are a lot of republican there is the senate who want to work this out. and i have no doubt that the republicans in the house want to work this out and have a compromise. what's happened lately is there's a group within the house republican caucus that don't seem to want to compromise. i think we can get through this, and i believe that most people here in washington, as frustrating as this has been, want a compromise for our

country. and i think that's what we're left with, and it will take all day today and tomorrow and part of the day monday, but i think we can work this out. >> when we look at what needs to happen there in the senate, there's the gop senators and there have been names tossed around about who might support harry reid as it goes to the cloture vote. who do you know of that might be important to the leader's efforts here? >> all i know is there are a group of folks in the republican caucus and senate that want to work this out. the worst thing i can do is name them. because they will get in trouble with some elements of their party. but i think there are a group of them. i don't think there's a definitive list yet. but that's part of the work leading up to the vote. even if tonight doesn't work out tonight, there will be votes tomorrow and plenty of time to get this done. we've got to work for a compromise for the country. i think most people believe that. we know that the financial markets, the credit rating

agencies are telling us very specific things. don't have a short-term six-month solution to this because we're not only going to be back here having this debate again, but that will be bad for the credit rating, for the markets and for the economy. we've got to wrap this up now, get it done and then move from what we should be doing which is strategies to grow the economy, especially in light of yesterday's bad economic news on the growth rate for the last quarter. >> we've been talking about how many switchboards have been lighting up there for -- there on the hill. what has been the response to what's happening from your constituents, what have they been telling you? >> basically what i just said. 98% of the mail that i've received in the last couple of days has been centered on one word, compromise. the american people know sometimes better than members of congress know that this country was founded on compromise. one of the reasons we've survived for over 220 years is

because of compromise. it doesn't mean that you surrender all of your principles. but most americans know in their family and work site, they have to compromise. so we have to do the same. >> some of the accusations from some voters are that this is all about politicking for 2012. there are challengers lining up to challenge you for your seat in 2012. what do you say to those who have that concern? >> there's no question that politics plays a role in everything we do, even beyond what happens in washington. politics are part of life. but most americans expect us, when we're facing the grave consequences of what we're facing now, to set aside politics and partisan ship. i have no doubt that they have done that and we'll see more evidence of that when we can reach a compromise for our country. >> senator, i appreciate your time, senator robert casey. >> thank you. let's get more on the

strategy from our expects now. let's bring in pat buchanan, as well as morris reed, a democratic strategist. not much to talk about today, huh? let's start with you, pat. over the past few days, we've been watching speaker boehner. is he reasserting his authority here or proved to some that the tea party members are really in charge? >> well, i don't know that the tea party members are in charge, but they certainly administered something of a humiliation to the speaker on thursday night when he had to pull the bill and go back again to them on friday. and i think at the end of this battle, richard, speaker boehner is going to be the man on the spot because of what richard wolffe said. what's going to happen when the house votes down this reid bill today, that's going to send a message to mitch mcconnell that you've got to get reid to change it. and when it's a reid-mcconnell

bill, it's going to go back to the house and i don't think john boehner has enough republicans to pass it in the house. he's going to have to go to steny howier and get some democratic votes and the result will be a split in the republican party in the house and the senate and that's what is going to come out of this battle. but i think it will be resolved by wednesday morning. >> morris, what does that reid-mcconnell bill need to look like so it will get passed in the house? >> well, i hope that it means we'll be able to get this thing done right away. i don't believe that we want -- anyone wants to be able to deal with it now and then have to come back closer to the elections and deal with it again. i hope that's one of the more fundamental things, that we get this behind us and take on the larger issue of the debt. now, i would say that the tea party guys have done a good thing. they've made the american public focus on the fact that the congress is living far beyond its means. what we need to do is use that

as a rally cry to keep the pressure on congress to start to live within their budget. i think if reid is smart, he'll want to get this done right away so we don't have to rehash this closer to the election. >> let's just say something does get passed and it goes to the house, pat. it now is back in boehner's seat. does boehner work with miss pelosi here and how might that work out? >> well, i think what's -- again, the republican house is painting itself into something of a corner if in an hour or so, richard, it votes down the reid bill before it's gotten it. so they can't vote for that unless it's changed. mitch mcconnell gets some changes and then you send it back. then you have the problem of the tea party, which is not going to vote for that bill. you could have defections of 30, 40, 50. and if you do that, the only way

boehner can get it through is to go steny hoyer and see if you can get some votes. so then you get a bipartisan deal, which antagonizes and alienates the tea party folks. so then you have a split in the republican party in the senate and a split in the house, and there's going to be bad blood over that. the key issue is short term or long-term. >> morris, what do you think if that were to happen? >> well, one of the things, it's never as bad as it is or as good as it is. in that scenario pat painted it, it would seem that the democrats would jump for joy. but this is taking a political toll on both sides. president obama's numbers, he's under 40 dealing with this issue particularly. this is politically damaging for both parties. they need to get this over with and then seriously approach a

reform, reforming the way washington spends money. i would get this behind me and that would be my issue from now until the election, fixing the spending habits here. >> richard, i think it's -- i think we're going to wind up here with both parties extremely bitter. the democrats got no tax increases, no revenue enhancement. the tea party won basically the battle, but at the end of the fight, the tea party is going to see its leaders going to work with democrats, and have to leave them behind. so you're going to have both parties -- i think you're going to have bitterness, and morris is right. the president has taken a pounding. he's down to 40% in the gallup poll, which is the lowest he's ever been. everybody is taking a beating. >> on those happy notes, we will leave it there. pat and morris, thank you so much. great discussion today. >> thank you. up next, we'll get the republican side of the argument

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the u.s. debt crisis is rattling nerves around the world. world leaders from europe to asia are concerned that their economies will become collateral damage if the u.s. defaults or even if the united states' sterling credit rating is tarnished. one country that so many are watching, china here. >> reporter: yeah, china seems to be the one that has the most to lose, because it's the largest foreign holder of u.s. treasury. more than a trillion dollars worth. and it also depends on americans to buy chinese exports. they're saying that the ugliest part of the saga is the world, being many other countries, is also in the impact zone when the donkey and the elephant fight. unfortunately, they don't say who the donkey or elephant is.

>> the u.s. treasury, which will be affected by this downgrade, the bonds issued by this country are seen as the safest in the world, a solid benchmark for aller interest rates. it has to be a concern there in europe specifically especially as we look what's happening in many other countries there. >> reporter: that's right. europe is still on edge after the greece bailout. germa germany is insisting the u.s. owes it to the world to sort this out. pakistan and israel have willing weighed in to the debate, with concerns about terrorism and israel has concerns about iran. if the u.s. is weak, they're saying, it only means they're going to be much stronger. here in the uk, though, they're basically saying that these political wranglings are posing a threat to the world's financial system. >> so it looks like something

that europe is very concerned about, as well as china there. thank you so much. let's get more on the debt ceiling drama from steve womack, a member of the house financial services committee. congressman, something we were just talking about, something you're very familiar with. what have you heard in terms of how countries are reacting with the possibility of the debt ceiling not being raised and the downgrading of the united states credit rating? >> let me make a very quick correction to what you said. i don't serve on the financial services committee, i serve on the house appropriations committee, on which i sit on the financial services subcommittee. so it is one of my three subcommittee assignments. but like a lot of people, i'm saying attention to what's going on around the world. and i know what's going on today and tomorrow and early next week in washington is having an impact on decision making all

across the world, as it is right here at home. >> as you voted for again the boehner bill that passed yesterday, did speaker boehner approach you, did he give you pressure, any suggestions as you went up to that point to vote? >> speaker boehner didn't have to pressure me at all. i was a co-sponsor of the cut, cap and balance legislation we passed a couple of weeks ago and i was with the speaker on the new plan, the boehner plan, the budget control act, as was originally drafted from jump street. so look, i'm like a lot of people across america, i want to see something done, and i think our conference has done a credible job in presenting not one, but two pieces of legislation that we passed through the house on which the senate can act and we can send to the president's desk for his signature and put this behind us. >> congressman, there were some 20, 22 congressman who didn't vote for that. what was their thought?

>> i have a great deal of respect for my colleagues, whether they're for the legislation or not. and a good many of 22 that voted against it are personal friends of mine. i have a lot of respect for their opinions, but at the end of the day, i'm concerned about run thing entire process up to the last moment and the ripple effect it has around the globe, not to mention what it does right here at home. i think a lot of it was the influence of people back at home, great supporters of these particular individuals who got here on the strength of some very strong, conservative votes back at home and have made some pledges that there are certain things they will do, certain things they won't do and they're following through on promises they made during their campaign. again, i think at some point in time, they're going to have to recognize that the sands in the hourglass are running away from us. the country's economy is burning while we're fiddling and we have

to get something across the finish line that will bring closure to the current issue. >> congressman, pat buchanan, you may have heard him say this, there's one scenario where mcconnell works with reid, they send the bill back to the house, leaving speaker boehner with the question of does he still bring along the tea party supported congressman or reach across the aisle. what's your thought? >> well, it's hard to say. i'll kind of trust the leadership of our conference to make those decisions. i'm not at the negotiating table with them. but i think the speaker has done a fantastic job of helping guide our conferences. sometimes as divided as it may be through this white water. he still has some work to do, and i'm sure he's going to be counting on his conference to support him. and if we have to reach across the aisle at the 11th hour to put something on the desk that can get a presidential signature, then we'll evaluate

that particular plan at the moment it's crafted. right now we have two plans sitting on the desk, that's become nothing more than table dressing and the senate is waking up and aappears ready to do something. the bill we've got before us is a non-starter, because it takes too many things away that are a litmus test for me and much of my conference. >> thank you so much for all of your help in understanding what is happening there on capitol hill. appreciate your time, congressman cwomack. the latest live in just minutes. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union.

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house members are planning to vote down senator reid's debt ceiling plan in a symbolic move and in the senate e members are going to go in session. we're back in three minutes. ♪ [ male announcer ] you've reached the age

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